


The Boar and the Boy

by Woodbones



Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, Minecraft (Video Game), mcyt
Genre: Blood God Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), Dream Smp, Family Dynamics, Family Fluff, Gen, I know hes not actually that great in canon shoosh, Its just angst, Minecraft, More tags as I go, Parent Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Parental Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Pre-DreamSMP, Siblings, Sleepy Bois Inc as Family, TommyInnit - Freeform, Wilbur Soot - Freeform, Wilbur Soot and Technoblade and TommyInnit are Siblings, blood god origin, i didn't mean to do this, its accidentally cottagecore sorry, phil is a good dad, philza - Freeform, please I need this, possibly disturbing imagery idk, remember when I said this was fluff and angst? well that was a lie, techno, techno needs therapy, wilbur techno and Tommy are all children
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-15 06:41:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29059950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Woodbones/pseuds/Woodbones
Summary: Years before the Dream SMP, Technoblade finds his body is going through supernatural changes after he encounters a mysterious boar in the woods outside his house.--------Origin story for why Techno is the blood god/my head canon for why Techno is not part of the sbi family dynamic but technically was before so im just trying to get the best of both worlds. also this is mostly for me idc if people read or not.---This is all in-character/in universe not content creator-
Comments: 5
Kudos: 36





	1. The boy and the boar

**Author's Note:**

> First ever post so I have no idea how this is going to go also ive never actually used this website so... there's that too  
> -  
> Also minor warning for going into shock???? I guess its at the very end

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for grammar errors Im literally shit at writing this is why I draw 💔

Warmth immediately hits Techno’s sun-licked skin the moment he steps outside of his family’s cottage. The mud under his shoes has dried up enough that he doesn’t have to worry about it getting stuck to his boots. Techno brushes away the hair on his forehead

“Hurry up Wilbur. I wanna check on the tadpoles. They’ll have hatched by now.”

Wilbur walks out of the cottage holding Tommy’s toddler sized hand in his.

“Why are you in such a hurry? It’s not like they can leave the lake.”

Wilbur and Tommy catch up to Techno who impatiently waits at the front gate. He taps his hands rapidly on one of the wooden poles that makes up the fence.

“Because” he stretches the word, “we might be able to find the forest god if we hurry. It always spawns right after the rain.”

Wilbur rolls his eyes, “The forest god doesn’t even exist. You just want to throw the frisbee into the lake and make me get it.”

Techno looks offended by this statement. “Wha- That’s not true! No proof. Wait!” He cut himself off. “The frisbee!” He takes off back towards the house, kicking up wads of soft earth under his boots.

Will groans at his own idiocy, he reminded Techno about the frisbee. He picks up Tommy who wraps his small arms around Will’s neck.

Techno dashes out of the house “I got it!” He waves the red disc rapidly in the air as he gets closer. “Lets go.” He stretches out the “O” on go as he trots past Wilbur into the forest around their house.

  
The three boys walk under a canopy of trees, light passing through opens between the leaves and speckling the dirt path with gold. Water droplets pool on the leaves above and drip into puddles that have yet to evaporate. They come up on a clearing. The weeds are overgrown from the rainstorms and stretch tall as they soak up sunlight.

Techno squeals with delight “Come on, come on. The tadpoles.”

He sets down the frisbee in the grass and starts looking into the pond for tadpoles. His deep brown eyes track the darting movement of small fish and catch glimpses of flying bugs that buzz in his ears before moving away.

“I don’t see anything Wilbur.” He shoos away a pond skater as he tries to get a better view into the murky water.

“They probably haven’t hatched yet.”

“No. They have had to have hatched. Their eggs are gone.”

Wilbur looks over at Techno from the other side of the small clearing. “Maybe they were eaten.” He mumbles.  
“I hope they weren’t eaten.” Techno says without looking up, his mouth stretches into a frown as his eyes continue to search for dark wiggling creatures in the water.

Tommy yells out with pleasure, cutting through the silence between Techno and Wilbur. Will turns his attention towards his younger brother who has taken to using the frisbee as a hammer and smashes the plastic disc against the smooth rocks dotted around the pond. He babbles at Will. Wilbur pats Tommy on his small head and sits down next to him, pulling his knees up to his chest, enjoying the sun and watching Techno.

Will dug his heel into the mud, making a small hole in the rocky dirt.

“I’m bored Techno can we play now?” He pushed the damp dirt further away from himself.

“No. I haven’t seen any tadpoles yet.” Was techno’s only reply.

Will cocked his head back to look straight up into the sky and groaned. “Techno I’m bored.” He stretched out his words.

“I’m gonna go home if you’re gonna keep being boring. And then Dadza is gonna get mad at you ‘cause you didn’t come home with me and Tommy.”

“Heh?” Techno looked over his shoulder at Wilbur. He got up and patted the dirt off his gray trousers.

“Fine. What if I play one game of frisbee with you and you don’t leave yet?”

Will’s eyes lit up with excitement. He grabbed the frisbee out of Tommy’s hand, who cried out in surprise.

“Here Tommy.” Will fiddled with his pockets and produced a small wooden moth carving which he pushed into his brother’s palm. “You can play with that.”

Wilbur trotted over to the other side of the clearing excited to finally play with his brother.

“Are you ready?”

Techno nodded.

“Ok! Catch!” Will yelled across the clearing, throwing the frisbee towards Techno.

The magenta and white striped disc flew through the air and wobbled as it neared Techno. Techno caught the disc by sandwiching it between his hands, Techno threw the disc back to Wilbur who tried to catch it on his finger so it would spin like he had seen Philza do. It bounced off his hand and rolled into the dirt instead. Techno and Wilbur passed the disc back and forth like this for a while, Techno catching it perfectly every time and Wilbur continuously failing to balance it on his finger.

Wilbur catches the frisbee from Techno where it falls into the dirt for the umpteenth time. Will found himself increasingly annoyed with his inability to do the frisbee trick and Techno’s ability to catch the frisbee without fail. He grumbled under his breath and launched the frisbee off in a different direction, determined to make sure Techno wouldn’t be able to catch it in time. It flew into the forest, disappearing into the brush.

“What’d you do that for?!” Techno yelled across the clearing.

“Sorry! I messed up.” Will replied as if he didn’t do it on purpose. “Can you go get it?”

“Heh? What- why? You threw it.”

“I always get it! And… ‘cause I’m…” He looks around the clearing. His eyes settle on Tommy who is deeply engrossed in watching a line of ants clear the wreckage from the rain. “Cause I’m busy watching Tommy.” He says with an air of finality.

“Ugh. Fine. But you owe me.” Techno disappears into the bushes.

Techno puts his head against the dirt ground to look under the brush easier. The overgrown weeds and grass tickle his cheeks as they sway softly in the breeze. He spots the bright red toy easily in the bright green undergrowth. Patches of sunlight filtered through the leaves give the entire scene a sense of calm.

“There you are.”

His eyes drift to the side and he spots two pairs of scuffed up, muddied hooves.

Techno sits up. “Oh. Hallo.”

His eyes meet the eyes of a boar, both its pupils are whitened with cataracts and old age. Large patches of dried blood splash across its dark brown pelt. Broken arrows stick out of its flank and its long tusks are caked in dried mud and rust colored blood.

“Are you ok?” There's a twinge of fear in Techno’s voice.

He fumbles with his red cardigan. “H- here.” He holds out a golden carrot.

“I was saving it for the horses but it looks like you might need it more… If you follow me my dadza can patch you up with some healing potions.”

The boar stands unmoving and silent.

“Um… That's ok too.” Techno reaches out his hand and waves it in front of the boar’s face. “Hallo? Can you hear me?”

There’s a rush of movement as the Techno is knocked into the mud. The boar’s entire body weight crashed into Techno’s small frail body, crushing him.

The moment Techno’s skin comes into contact with the boar’s matted bristles, he feels completely numb. A tingling feeling overwhelms him, racing across his body, he feels as if there is an unscratchable itch just under his entire skin as if his organs themselves are in need of scratching.

He collapses on to the ground shivering from the uncontrollable feeling, his thoughts are filled with the words from voices he’s never heard before. He wants to scream and cry out, the static under his skin and in his mind is unbearable but he can’t seem to make a sound instead he screams in silent pain, his throat too choked up to make even the smallest noise.

Techno isn’t sure how long it had been before he heard his name being called. It’s much darker than it was during the afternoon with Wilbur and Tommy. A shadow passes over his blurred vision.

“Techno! Techno stay with me mate.” He hears his dad, Philza’s voice.

He felt a warm rough hand on his shoulder “I need you to eat this. Small bites alright mate?”

Techno tries to nod but his head is pounding and his body still itches. Trying to nod only blurs his vision and makes his head swim.

He feels the sudden cold of being drenched in liquid; it smells of wine and old spiderwebs. The wet cold feeling disappears as the potion evaporates into the evening air. Techno feels a calloused hand cup his jaw and puts something in his mouth. It was sweet like honey and hard like rock candy.

_A golden apple? E? W- what was going on? Gapple. Eat it. /rainbowchat. Apple? It's sweet._

Techno swallowed the small apple slices and his body started to itch less. The more he ate, the less he shook and the warmer his skin felt. His head was still pounding which made it hard to decipher his thoughts from the thousands of other thoughts going through his mind.

But he began breathing normally.

“You're alright now mate. I’ve got you.”

Techno felt warm scarred arms wrap around his body, he was scooped up by Phil and Techno felt himself give into unconsciousness as his father jumped up into the air and flew off.


	2. Breakfast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wilbur checks on Techno after the previous night's events.

When Techno went into the forest to get the frisbee he didn’t come out for a long time. Will started calling out for Techno after a while thinking Techno was trying to pull a prank even though he was not that kind of person. Eventually Wilbur took Tommy home and told Phil that Techno was missing which stirred up a frenzy within the normally peaceful Minecraft household. Wilbur had watched Dadza take out items and potions that he didn’t even know their family had in storage. Phil had left the cottage in a hurry and left Wilbur with one command, keep Tommy and yourself safe, before he rushed outside and flew into the air.

Dadza had come back an hour later cradling Techno in his arms and looking completely distraught as he rushed the small boy into the basement with all the magical items Wilbur wasn’t allowed near. Wilbur saw the state of Techno, sickly dark green spreading over his pale skin. He had seen it before in the form of zombie villagers his dadza was asked to heal by the nearby villages. Wilbur had returned to his room but couldn’t seem to fall asleep, instead listening to Philza mumble to himself as he worked tirelessly by lantern light and tried to heal his son.

At some point Wilbur managed to fall asleep and woke up to morning light filtering through the space between the curtain and the wall leaving beams of light that shine across the bedroom walls. Wilbur tightens his eyes and tries to make the curtains to be more closed which accomplishes nothing. He pushes the covers off his bed and puts his feet on the cool wood floor which helps get the sleep out of Wilbur’s eyes.

He exits his bedroom and is greeted by the door to Techno’s bedroom directly across from his. The door was cracked open enough for Wilbur to see that techno was sitting on top of his bed reading. The light was off and the curtains drawn.

“Te- Techno? Are you ok?” Wilbur stuck his head into his brother’s room.

“Oh. Hi Wilbur. I think I’m ok now.” Techno didn’t look up from his book, only showing his profile and obscuring the other side of his face.

“That’s good.” Wilbur smiled weakly.

“I shouldn’t have made you go into the forest like that.” Will chuckled weakly.

“It’s fine.” Techno looked up at Wilbur. “I’m ok now.”

His mouth moved into the shape of a smile but his eyes did not.

Will immediately noticed the faint glow that illuminated from Techno’s left eye, the familiar dark chestnut replaced by a white glow.

Wilbur cocked his head to the side, trying to get a better look. “Y- your eye…”

Wilbur’s face was filled with horror as it dawned on him that he had done something to his brother.

“My eye… is fine.” Techno turned away so Will couldn’t see the left side of his face. “I’m going to keep reading now, bye.”

Wilbur nodded slightly and rushed out of the room. He held his head in his hands and scrunched his eyes shut trying to get the image of Techno out of his head.

He was hit by wave upon wave of guilt as he dashed across the hall back into his own bedroom. _It’s my fault. I made him look like that. It should’ve been me. I was supposed to get that stupid frisbee. Will. Wilbur-_ “Will… Son.”

Wilbur looked up from where he was staring into the floor.

“You doing okay mate?” Phil was standing outside Will’s room. “I heard the door slam and got worried. Have you eaten breakfast yet?”

Wilbur wasn’t sure how to respond. His dad was acting as he always did. _He wasn't mad at him for what he did to Techno. Why wasn’t he mad? What if he had killed Techno by accident?_

“I… haven’t had breakfast yet.” Wilbur shook his head.

“I’ll make you some eggs, come on.” Dadza’s lips spread into a warm smile and he took Wilbur’s hand in his calloused hand.

Small pots on the window sill above the sink soaked up sunlight, each was named after the everyone living in the cottage. Birds flittered by the window chasing each other in the cold spring air. Wilbur sat down at the kitchen table, the wood chair made a quiet scraping sound as it was dragged over the spruce flooring. Phil turned away from Wilbur, focusing on the stove top and making some breakfast for Will and himself. The scent of butter on freshly toasted bread and simmering sunny side up eggs filled the sun bathed kitchen. Phil’s grayish purple wings blocked his face as he turned towards Wilbur.

“Are you sure you’re doing okay mate? I know you must be worried about Techno.”

Wilbur’s eye twitched, annoyance at his father’s constant pestering about “how he was doing” or “his feelings on things” only made him feel like he was being babied. Wilbur felt he had a perfect understanding of himself and didn’t need his dad talking to him about unnecessary things.

“I’m not worried about Techno, and I’m doing just fine. You don’t need to worry about me, I’ll keep taking care of Tommy like I always do and you can take care of Techno like you always do.”

Philza’s eyes filled with resignation and a twinge of pain as Wilbur’s words hit him.

The sound of butter bubbling in the pan filled the silence between them. Philza reached for the egg carton to make another egg to put on toast only to find it empty. A little “ah” escaped from his mouth. His eyes lit up with an idea and a bright smile spread across his face.

“Will, come with me to the market today, we can leave Tommy with Techno. We need more eggs and from the looks of it,” Phil opened the iced chest next to the furnace, “apples and milk.”

The bread popped out of the toaster with a ding. Using a spatula Phil put two sunny side up eggs on Wilbur’s toast and one on his. He put the plates down on the table with a soft clink. Wilbur spoke with his mouth full of egg and toast, “Cam’t we just get thab stuff from da forest. There are plemty of chickens and cows wandering around and abbles in the trees.”

“You don’t want to hang out with your dear old dadza?”

Phil held his hand over his chest and feigned feeling faint. “I knew this day would come.”

Wilbur blushed with embarrassment and panic. “N- no it’s not like that.”

“It’s alright Will, you can stay at home if you’d like. I can go to the market on my own.” He said, jokingly dipping his head in sadness and successfully lightening the room.

“No, wait, I want to go with you.” Wilbur’s eyes were wide with desperation as he tried to convince his dad that he wanted to accompany him to the market and not fully understanding his Dadza was pretending.

Philza chuckled heartily. “Alright Will. Finish your food and we’ll go.” He reached out a hand and ruffled Wilbur’s messy mop of hair.


	3. Books and Blood

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mild veins/blood/mildly disturbing imagery warning

Techno flipped through another book, searching for something interesting that he didn’t already read for the twentieth time but found nothing. 

He could smell the air in his room turning stale after nothing had moved for a good few hours. He took a deep breath and rolled out of bed, he didn’t bother to open the curtains to let in the morning sunlight. Instead he sneaked out into the hallway where he overheard a conversation between his Dadza and Wilbur about going to the market. 

He stuck his tongue into the side of his cheek forming a lump and grumbled in disappointment, they hadn’t invited him. He knew that he was in no shape to go into public especially since Dadza had told him he might still be sensitive to sunlight but that didn't mean being left out didn't hurt less. 

He heard the clinking of plates as they were washed and stacked to dry, the soft chatter between Phil and Will as they got ready to go to the market until finally the loud swoosh of a single powerful flap. The house fell back into silence. 

Techno stepped into the kitchen looking for any food that he could take back to his room, the blinding sunlight made his skin feel uncomfortably warm and his vision swimmed with light as he searched through the ice chest for any food. He found a can of mushroom stew and resigned himself to eating soup and bread for breakfast. 

Just as quickly as he had come out Techno went back towards his room, stew and bread in hand. But something caught his eye, a beam of light made from light refracting into bits that lit up that entire area of the house. Techno set down his soup to investigate, munching on his lightly toasted bread by pulling it apart into small pieces and eating it. 

He followed the source of the refraction, a quartz crystal that hung from the ceiling like many others. They were hanging down from Phil’s room, the door was ajar, letting Techno see a lot of the darkly lit room. The beams of rainbow light stung his sensitive skin, it left his pale hands tingling with a burning sensation, Techno's nose twitched in discomfort. 

There wasn’t much out of the ordinary in his Dadza’s room but it was a total mess and random objects were strewn about as if someone was searching for something specific. Techno knew why Phil’s normally tidy room looked like this, he stepped inside the bedroom, it was because of him. He walked in to stand in front of the full length mirror in the corner of the room. 

The face that stared back at him was not fully his own. Techno focused on his left eye. It glowed softly, the pupil completely white and frozen in a closed state. His normally dark brown irises now shocked with white and grayish blue. He reached a hand up to touch around his eye, it felt numb even though he knew his hand was touching under his eye, he couldn’t feel his skin reacting to his fingers. 

He could see sickly greens and blues in his skin, now mostly faded thanks to the weakness potion and golden apple combination but in the bright sunbeams, fully visible. There were places in his hands and face where his skin seemed to become almost fully transparent, exposing the veins under his skin to light. 

Techno grimaced, he hated looking at himself and walked out of his Dadza’s room, taking his now room temperature soup with him back to his own bedroom.

Techno lay on this bed and put his soup on his chest, propping his head up slightly with a pillow. He let out a deep breath and mumbled, “I need to talk to everyone” under his breath. 

He ate his soup in relative silence, his rusted alarm clock and the chirping of birds the only sounds in the house. He was trying to read at the same time as eating, although every time he would move forward to eat soup the book would close on its own and he would have to find his page again. It was a constant battle. 

“Ow.” Techno said dryly. He heard the quiet plunk as an object fell into his soup. The taste of metal filled his mouth, red staining his teeth and gums. 

“Heh?” Techno used his spoon to fish an object out of his mushroom stew, it was small and white. One of his teeth, one of his lower teeth from the looks of it. Techno got up and went to the bathroom to get a better look.

His tooth was gone for sure, all that was left was a bloody gap where one of his baby canines used to be. Techno was used to this, his teeth had been falling out and were being replaced by his incoming permanent teeth. Although, they had never fallen out as easily as this one had. The more he looked at his bloodied gums the more his left eye seemed to feel tighter. _Was his iris getting... smaller?_

He tried to rub the feeling in his eye away with the back of his hand but it only seemed to get worse. Techno grumbled and walked back into the hallway to go back to his room and take a nap, deciding that at least trying to close his eyes was better than nothing to get rid of the weird discomfort he was feeling. 

As soon as he laid down on his bed he could feel himself drift to sleep which was a complete change in pace from his normal restlessness. But he couldn’t give too much thought to it before he was completely unconscious.

It was dark from what Techno could tell. The floor was covered in a layer of water above a solid ground that sent ripples across it with every movement. 

As he ventured through the watery void Techno felt as if he was being watched, followed from behind. First by one thing, then two, three, four, soon he could feel hundreds, thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions of things watching him, following him. He could feel himself being surrounded. _What were things? People?_ They rushed towards him a constant stream of consciousness filled his dream self's thoughts. They came towards him from all sides, they chanted and spoke in a million different tongues. 

They’re words garbled and mixing with each other so that it was completely unintelligible. He couldn’t see their faces, only their presence as they moved in, closer, closer, pushing against him, pushing one another, their bodies made of amorphous blobs. It was unbearable. 

Techno started to run, his only goal to break through the wall of voices, to try and leave the things behind and wake up. But the more he ran and tried to push through the crowd, shoving his way in-between faceless vaguely human shapes, the more that seemed to join in. 

The noises that came out of the holes where their mouths should be began to make sense, forming vague sounds that sounded like speech. 

He understood only one noise from the crowd. 

Only one word was clear in the collective of voices. 

The only word they all shared, a universal language.

Blood.

  
  
  



	4. market

The sun is high in the sky as Phil lands in the town square, his powerful wings swooping around his and Wilbur’s bodies.

Wilbur climbed out of his father’s arms and onto the stone bricks beneath him. The market place was a bustling city center filled with colorful stalls and banners and people and creatures and sights and buildings. A mix of villagers and people and mobs wandered the market. People selling food Wilbur had never heard of before and banners with patterns he had never seen before.

A cat eared lumberjack passes him and Phil, a diamond axe over his shoulder and a bag full of cat food and lacey orange fabric hanging from the other.

The market is set up so that all the stalls surround the stone brick pathways, facing the crowds in-between the stalls, this forms multiple blocks of stalls. Each block has stalls that are related to each other and each block is near another block that is semi-related to its surrounding blocks called a district. Dadza landed in the food district so the two shoppers could buy enough groceries to last their family a few weeks at least.

Phil takes Will’s hand in his as they walk through the bustling marketplace. 

“The first item on our list is eggs. I believe the chicken stall is this way.” Philza motions towards one of the many cobble pathways. “Stay close to me, I don’t want you getting lost.”

They weave their way through crowds of farmer villagers and people, butchers yell out the names and prices of meat haunches from hoglins and cattle, a small stall attracts customers with the smell of home cooked stews in large metal pots, and merchants selling rare foods like corn and tomatoes from far off regions.

Wilbur took all of this in with awe, he had seen it for what feels like hundreds of times in his short lifetime but every time he came to the market it was an entirely new experience. 

Phil stops in front of a red stall, the wood beams holding the cloth tarp roof up were made of crimson planks, the mark of a merchant who was wealthy enough to afford rare nether materials that wouldn't burn.

The banners that hang from the posts were a dark gray, with three vertical stripes shapes and a single red egg shape dyed in the middle.

“That banner is one of the ugliest I’ve ever seen.” Wilbur mumbled under his breath, the chattering crowd masking his words easily. 

Wilbur watched as Phil talked to the man running the stall, a cat person with bright blue eyes that seemed to dart all over, looking everywhere but at Phil. Behind the counter was an extremely tall hooded figure, he meticulously sorted merchandise into various crates and loaded them into a cart that was being pulled by two spotted horses.

Wilbur tried to listen in to the conversation between the man steering the cart, his skin shimmered as daylight reflected across his crystal embedded skin and the demon man. The noise of the market drowned out their most of their conversation but he was able to hear the demon call the diamond man a "muffinhead" and them laughing together. 

Will watched the man carefully walk between the horse drawn cart and the stacks of crates containing fragile eggs. The demon's horns kept grazing the top of the stall's cloth roof, they would catch on folds in the tarp but never long enough to rip it. The demon was able to close the distance between the crates and the cart in a matter of steps, back and forth. Each time he set down a new batch of eggs he would use his shoulder to push up his glasses. 

Phil chatted as the cat merchant put a few stacks of eggs and large glass bottles of milk into a box and placed them on the counter. Philza handed the siamese a few emeralds and put the groceries into his inventory. Will heard Phil say a parting “Thank you” before he turned away and left for the next item on their list. 

“I’m sorry if you got bored there, Will. The next stall is next to a bakery, choose something from there, I’ll buy it for you.” Phil looked down at his list again, “mmm… Apples next huh?”

They wandered through the marketplace once more, Will watched as two people shot into the sky. Their elytras opening and catching the air currents around them, allowing them to glide over to their next destination. Colorful balloons made of paper floated in the air, tied down to stalls far below them on the ground.

Will watched a creeper in full gold armor pass, his hoofed feet clomping on the stone cobble stones. The creeper wore a gold crown with a ruby colored gemstone in the middle, he caught Will staring and gave a small nod in his direction. Wilbur turned red from the embarrassment of being caught and turned to look away at his Dadza. 

They came up on a large stall, in the very back were chests on chests of fresh produce.

Carrots, apples, potatoes, beetroot, overflowed from the chests and barrels behind the front counter. The farmer villager running the stall was busy helping another customer when Phil pointed towards the stall next door.

“Go over and pick something out for yourself mate.”

The stall one over was the baked goods stall, all sorts of cookies, cakes and breads were being sold there. There were only two people running the stall, an older lady who seemed to take care of the bulk of the work and a young girl about Will's age. Wilbur walked over to take a better look, trying to ignore the girl who stared at him from behind the legs of what Will assumed to be her mother.

A bread pastry that appeared to be honey flavor caught his eye. He decided that when his Dadza was done getting apples he would get the bread pastry. Will looked up for a moment and was greeted by the staring girl's face in his face. 

"That one is really good." She pointed to the one closest to Will. "I made that one with my mum's help." 

Wilbur noticed that she seemed to have some kind of accent. Her pupils were tiny slits like a cats. "You should get that one too. It goes well with the honey bread." She motioned towards a variety of chocolate pastries that were shaped like different animals. 

"Ok, thanks." Wilbur wasn't sure what else to say to her.

He looked back towards Dadza who was trying to bargain with the villager running the produce stall. They exchanged many words, very quickly in deep concentration with each other. He watched as a man in a multi-colored trench coat walked past, his arms covered in ticking watches that were all set to different times. 

His mop of brown hair was framed with rusted goggles, his face was hidden in a book with a green spiral engraving on the cover. As he walked past Philza he seemed to deliberately bump into him, and a similar notebook with a green spiral engraving fell into Philza’s satchel without Dadza noticing.

He turned his attention back towards the girl to say "I- I've got to check something sorry." he scurried towards Dadza to check his bag. 

He tapped on Phil’s shoulder, “Dadza, check your bag. I think someone weird put something in it.” Wilbur pulled at his Dad’s dark green coat sleeve.

“Oh yeah?” Phil stopped his conversation with the farmer villager and rummaged through his satchel. He pulled out the strange notebook. “What… is this?…” He trailed off and rubbed his temple as if he got a sudden headache. “This… was always here.”

Will blinked at his Dadza’s response before he too felt a sudden flash of pain in his head. As soon as it subsided, Wilbur blinked a few times and took a better look at the notebook. “I… don’t know what I was on about, you always had that with you. Sorry Dadza.”

“I’m almost done here, did you pick a snack for yourself yet?”

Wilbur nodded in response and put his chin on the wooden counter, just barely being tall enough to reach the edge. He watched as Phil finished up his deal with the villager. 

Dadza had managed to get a barrel full of apples and carrots for the price of 5 emeralds but only because some of them were a bit off color here and there. Phil wasn’t about to allow perfectly good produce get thrown out because of a few blemishes though and he managed to get a good deal. Phil collected the produce into his inventory and gave the villager a farewell nod. 

“Alright show me what you wanted to get.” Phil took Will’s hand as Will walked over to the bakery and pointed at the honey bread. The girl was back to hiding behind her mother's legs. 

“Looks good Will. Do you think Techno and Tommy would like anything?” Phil took his wallet out of his inventory.

“Maybe the pig bread for Techno and the butterfly one for Tommy. It’s not a moth but it’s close enough.” Will pointed to a chocolate pastry that the girl had recommended. 

Phil bought the three pastries in a to go box. “Anything else you want to do while we’re here mate?” Will shook his head. 

He looked into the sky, the sun was way past noon now, a complete change from that morning when they had arrived. Time seemed to fly by.

“Let’s go home then, I’ve got to start making dinner.” Philza opened his arms to pick up Will. He spread his powerful wings and flew into the sky, leaving the bustling marketplace behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Philza confirming he's a centuries old being kinda messes with my headcanons but yknow what that's why its called fanfiction


	5. Garden

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> might take a week break just cuz i gotta keep up my buffer and making animatics and art and writing and school work all at the same time takes a toll on ye old creative juices

“Daba!” Tommy ran towards the front door as it was opened up by Philza.

“Oh! Tommy!” 

Phil grunted as Tommy ran straight into his legs and almost tripped him. Will squeezed past the two of them as Phil picked up Tommy and propped him up in the crook of his arm. 

“Will, put these in the iced chest,” Dadza handed Will his satchel that was filled with the groceries they had just bought.

Will grabbed the bag from his Dadza and turned into the kitchen. Leaving Phil and Tommy alone in the doorway.

“Hi Tommy.” 

Phil bopped the toddler on his nose, which got a giggle out of Tommy. Tommy wrapped his small arms around Phil’s neck as they walked through the house together. 

“Are you going to help me put away groceries mate?”

Tommy shook his head and gave a passionate “No!” in response.

Phil chuckled heartily. 

“Maybe when you’re older then?” He hummed with pleasure as they walked into the kitchen after Wilbur.

Will finished half dragging, half carrying the bag of eggs, produce and milk into the kitchen and propped it up against where the counter met the wood floor. At this point the sun had dipped much lower in the sky than it was that morning and the kitchen that had been so brightly lit by natural sunlight before was now in a perfect balance, bright enough to see but no blinding beams of morning light coming through the windows. 

This was Will’s favorite time in the house as it was right before the sun would start to set and it filled the entire house with golden orangey light which filtered through the blinds and left strong purpley shadows all over the house. 

He quickly finished moving all the groceries from the bag’s inventory to his inventory then into the chest. He looked over at the small paper box that contained his bread from the market. Just as he was about to open the lid of the container, Dadza and Tommy walked in. 

“Perfect, looks like you’re done with the groceries. Which means you’re done with chores for the day mate.” 

Phil patted Will on the head. 

“Can you call Techno over? I want him to go grab some herbs from the garden.”

Will dipped his head in a half nod and dug through the pastry box for his bread. 

“Bring techno his pastry too.” 

Phil called over his shoulder as Will walked out of the room as he tore his honey bread into chunks to eat in small bites. 

“Thanks mate.” 

Techno felt as if he slept a lot more recently than he had before he met the boar in the woods. Normally it would take what felt like multiple hours of just laying in his bed with his eyes closed before he would fully drift off to sleep. But since touching the dying boar in the woods it seemed like he would get tired more easily, taking long naps for long periods of time and falling asleep almost as soon as he laid down. 

This would’ve been a nice change of pace for him if not for the nightmares that plagued his every sleeping moment and quiet chatter in every waking one. He could feel himself begin to wake up, trapped in the state between sleep and wake, unwilling to open his eyes but definitely not unconscious anymore. 

Wilbur stood outside of Techno’s bedroom door, it was closed this time unlike this morning. Wilbur’s knuckles made a quiet knocking sound as he hit them against the oak door. 

“Techno?” 

He heard the bed creak and a groan in protest on the other side of the door but no answer. 

“Dadza wants you to do something.” He scratched an itch on the back of his calf with his foot. 

“Also I have a pastry for you, we got it at the market if you want it.” 

Once again there was no answer. Will grumbled under his breath and pushed down on the door handle.

Will walked into Techno’s room which was just as dark as it had been in the morning. Techno lay very still on top of his bed, he hadn’t bothered to get under the covers and instead slept on top. Will paused for a moment, his hand hovering over Techno’s shoulder as he debated shaking him awake. 

He grabbed Techno’s shoulder, “Dadza wants you to go get herbs from the garden for dinner. Wake up.” 

He shook Techno’s shoulder roughly. 

“Techno wake up. Hello… Technoblade wake up.”

When Techno didn’t stir he groaned. “

Fine. I’ll do it myself. I’m going to eat your chocolate bread though.” 

“W- Wilbur?” Techno groaned softly, “Is that you?” He sat up in bed to look at Will as Will turned to leave. 

“Did you need something?” His eyes glowed bright white. “It’s too bright in here, turn off the light.” Techno waved his hand lazily back and forth through the air. 

Wilbur’s only response was a small whimper that filled the dark room, he tried balled his hands into fists to stop them from shaking as he viewed what he had done to his brother. 

“Wilbur? You there?” 

The floor squeaked as Will scrambled away, not letting Techno get up and speak to Wilbur. Wilbur slammed the door behind him and left Techno by himself in his unlit bedroom. 

Techno sat down on his bed trying to decipher what had happened between him and Wilbur to make him react in such a way but his memory between falling asleep and waking up on the floor next to Will was fuzzy at best. He left his bedroom closing his door quietly behind him. 

The redstone lamps were on above the kitchen table and it seemed the sun had begun to set, letting in sunlight that bathed the living room in golden light. Wilbur was nowhere to be found but Techno spotted Dadza in the kitchen chopping garlic as Tommy watched while sitting on the countertop.

“Good morning Techno. It’s almost dinner time.”

Techno snorted at the bad joke. “Where’d Wilbur go?”

“He went outside I believe. Did he tell you to get the herbs from the garden? I need thyme and rosemary.” Dadza inquired.

“He… He did.” Techno played off his shakiness. 

Techno stepped outside in what was now the first time in more than a day and immediately soaked up the rays of the setting sun. He let out a sigh.  _ Where could Wilbur have gone? _ He wandered around the yard noticing pots that were still waterlogged from the rain and half dried up puddles in the grass. 

Techno walked towards the herb garden in the back of the house, the mud under his feet making wet squelching noises as he stepped. Wilbur was squatted staring at a beetle as it climbed a particularly tall stalk of grass.

“Hey. What’d you need help with?” Techno said as he neared his brother.

Will’s eye twitched when he heard turned towards Techno. He was about to tell him off for sneaking up on him, but the look in Techno’s mismatched eyes caught him off guard. 

“I’m…” He trailed off as he rubbed his arm, “Just picking herbs for Dadza.” He formed a tight smile. 

Techno folded his hands together and fumbled with his fingers. He went into the garden shed and grabbed a small pair of shears from the shelf. He began cutting away at the stalk of rosemary. The woody stem was hard to get through and Techno had to cut into it over and over again to make a dent. “This is a weird question. What happened in my room?”

“Nothing. It’s fine. I’m sure Dadza can fix it.” 

“Fix… what?” Techno cut through the stem with a snap and slowly turned to look up at Wilbur sitting next to him. His single eye searched Wilbur’s face. “Fix what Wilbur.”

“Your- y'know… your eyes. They’re just wrong. It’s not your fault though so Dadza can fix it like he always does.” Wilbur looked down at the cut that Techno had made in the plant. “You’re eyes turn all white and glowy…”

“Oh. Is that so.” Techno went back to cutting more of the plant, getting through another stem in a single clean, snap. “That doesn’t sound healthy.” He stared the rosemary stems in his hand, the green staining his skin ever so slightly. “Do you think this is enough for Dadza? I’m going to go get thyme.” 

Wilbur looked at Techno in confusion. “What? That’s it? That’s all you have to say to me?”

“What do you mean?” Techno raised his eyebrows, he wasn’t sure how to respond to Wilbur.

“I’m the reason we’re in this situation. The reason you- you’re sick!”

“Sick?”

“I forced you to get the frisbee. I made you go into the forest and get your weird glowy eyes. I’m the reason you came home frothing at the mouth and shaking. I’m the reason your skin was turning all shades of green and-“ Will’s voice cracked. 

“It should’ve been me, I should be the one with glory eyes and turning into a zombie. Why don’t you hate me for that? Why-”

Techno grabbed Will’s wrist and squeezed it tightly in his, Techno’s nails dug into Will’s skin. 

Their eyes met. “I. will. be. fine. Everyone will be fine.” Techno sneered, the gap where his baby tooth had fallen out earlier that day was prominently displayed. 

“Come on we still need to get thyme for dinner.” 


	6. dinner

Philza put the chicken onto the middle rack in the furnace to cook for the next hour. He had chopped up the thyme Will and Techno had cut for him and mixed it with butter so that it would melt on to the chicken as it cooked in the furnace. He cut some lemons and pulled apart the rosemary and put it on the chicken while it cooked. 

Phil could feel the house’s atmosphere was more tense than usual, dinner being a bit behind schedule and everyone being hungry didn’t help. 

He sighed.

“Hi Tommy.” He picked up the toddler off the counter top. “You tired yet mate?”

Tommy only babbled in response and lifted his arms up towards Dadza to be picked up.

“Alright lets see what Will is up to.” 

The floorboards creaked as Phil walked through the house carrying Tommy going under the doorway that led out of the kitchen and into the living room, the tops of his folded wings just barely squeezing through. 

Will sat curled up on the couch reading, his knees tucked up to his chest and the book resting on top of them. Phil sat down next to his son, and moved Tommy so he was resting on his shoulder. The large feathers that made up his large grayish-purple wings folded under him as he sunk into the couch. 

Phil looked at the cover of Will’s book, the jacket was gold and depicted the silhouette of a black star and a man pointing upwards as a stand-in for the top point of the star. Phil closed his eyes briefly, he could feel how tired he was but knew that he couldn’t take a nap and risk burning the entire cottage down with dinner. 

Phil hadn’t slept in more than a day from taking care of Techno, pulling an all nighter, flying to the market with Wilbur, left him beyond tired. So tired that when he heard Will begin to speak he almost didn’t register it, his voice blending in with the sounds of night outside. 

“Dadza. Is there a way I can help Techno?” Wilbur spoke softly, adverting his eyes from Phil as he spoke. “I want to make him better.” 

Phil blinked in response, surprised by Will’s interest in his sibling’s well being. 

“Aw mate. The best thing you could do for him is to keep being there for him. Keep being his brother.” 

Wilbur opened his mouth to respond. “Yes but, there must be something more I can do to help. I want to get rid of his,” Will waved his hand over his left eye. “His… situation.” 

“Ah. Well... “ Phil stalled, unsure of how to explain to his son that his help was unneeded without putting it harshly. He inhaled sharply, “Techno’s… situation as you call it… is very delicate.” Phil folded his hands together. 

“I don’t have a complete understanding of what happened in the forest last night and I’m not sure if your help will… be as helpful as you hope.” He brought his chin to his chest and looked up at Wilbur.

Wilbur’s face was blank, making it hard to tell if he was mad or not. “I see.”

“T- That’s not to say your help wouldn’t be appreciated, just not right now, not while I figure out what needs to be done for Techno. You understand right mate?”

Will’s eyes flicked across the room quickly, “Yeah. Thanks Dadza.” 

He brought his knees closer to his chest and continued to read his book. Will made sure not to show how defeated he actually felt by Philza’s statement.    


Techno was sat in his room, surrounded by the relaxing closeness of the dark. The curtains drawn and his oil lantern off. He waved his hand in front of his face, Techno could see it perfectly in the dark. 

Every blister and callus from sword fighting training, every fold and crease in his skin, the sickly green splotches just under them. His eyesight was just as good if not better than it was during the day. He covered his normal eye with one hand, trying to see through his white one. The room looked as if it was brightly lit from all sides, the true level of light didn’t affect how his surroundings appeared, it was blinding. 

He clicked the lantern on and off with no difference. The only indicator that it was evening was the smell of dinner being cooked and the dark sky outside but the world around Techno was just as brightly lit as it was during the day.

He stood up from sitting cross legged on his bed and was about to leave his room when he heard a voice. 

It rose above the soft chatter that he had learned to ignore, cutting through the peace. It was a hoarse sound, raspy and weak but commanded the rest of the voices with ease.    
“Blood god… Blood for the blood god.” It sputtered, filling Techno’s head with images of bloodshed and battle. 

“S- stop it.” 

Techno sat back down on his bed, holding his head in his hands. “Go away.” 

His thoughts were in black and white, the voices showed him the carnage of people caught in tnt explosions and the aftermath of bow fights. 

Red stained each of these scenes, any blood highlighted in bright burgundy hues. Techno felt the beginning of tears forming in the corners of his eyes, his breathing became labored and uneven as he choked up. The voices only continued to chant in his head. 

“Techno, Dadza says dinner is ready.” 

A familiar voice broke through Techno’s spiral. He looked up towards it, his eyes puffy from almost crying. 

“Uh, are you okay?” Wilbur stood in the doorway, the lantern light from the hallway spilling into Techno’s darkened bedroom creating a ray of yellow light that shone across Techno’s floor. His face was a mix of worry and surprise, his brother was not the type to cry. 

Techno shook his head quickly, trying to dispel the voices and reset his emotions. 

“Yeah… I’m- yeah.” 

He blinked away the tears. “Dinner’s ready right?” He got up, hiccuping from holding back tears. 

The boys walked out into the kitchen where the dinner table was set. The curtains on all the windows had been drawn, a change from that morning.

“Food’s ready.” 

Philza pointed to a metal baking pan with seasoned chicken breasts cooling down from being in the furnace. 

“There’s baked potatoes in the furnace. We have pumpkin pie for dessert so save room for that.”

They each got their food, Phil making sure to cut Tommy’s into smaller pieces for him, and sat down at the table. They didn’t talk much while they ate. Wilbur’s eyes were trained on Techno the entire time but every time Techno looked up at him Will made sure to look away as quickly as possible. 

Phil tended to Tommy, making sure he didn't hurt himself while he used his fork, he broke the silence.

“Techno I need to talk to you after dinner, I have some ideas I’d like to test for your eye.”

“Oh yeah. Ok.” Techno spoke through mouthfuls of chicken and potatoes, “I lobst a toof today.” He said nonchalantly, still trying to catch Will looking at him.

“Congratulations Techno.” Phil clasped his hands together. “I’m sure the tooth fairy will come mate.”

Techno snorted at the thought that fairies existed, let alone have any interest in his teeth. 

Dinner was over and Tommy half asleep, drooling onto his panda themed placemat.  Wilbur picked him up and carried him to his room to sleep while Dadza talked to Techno. 

_ Of course they didn’t want Will there. They never wanted him there.  _

He set Tommy down and tucked him into Will’s bed since Dadza didn’t want him sleeping alone. Will would watch over him for the next few hours before Phil would inevitably come in and take him to his own bed like many times before. 

Wilbur sighed, now all he could do was wait for Dadza to explain what he was doing with Techno. 

Although from how secretive he was being Will wasn’t sure when that would be if ever.    
He sat down next to his bed frame, putting his head up against his mattress. It was dark enough in his room that he wasn’t able to see his hand, the soft glow of moonlight filtering through half closed curtains casting light so Will was just barely able to make out the objects in his room. 

He listened to the clocks ticking away, their quiet clicking seemed to be the only sound in the entire household. He sighed, closing his eyes for what seemed like a moment only for him to wake up suddenly as he heard heavy footsteps cause the floorboards to creak. He squinted at the clock hanging above his desk, it read 3 am, almost 7 hours after he had put Tommy to sleep.  Tommy lay curled up in Will’s bed, gently breathing. 

Will cracked his bedroom door open just enough so that he could peer out of it. Gold light shined out from the basement, reflecting off the glass of the various items and pictures hanging in the hallway. Wilbur pushed his door open more with a quiet creak, so he could see the stairwell into the brightly lit storage room. 

He didn't see Philza or Techno but heard the quiet murmur as they spoke to each other, catching the words Zombified Piglin, Weakness Potion and Golden Apple. He desperately wanted to be included, to right what he felt were his wrongs. Wilbur’s eyelids drooped occasionally as he forced himself to stay awake and try and listen in on the conversation between Techno and Phil. 


End file.
